Short Interest in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Increases By 31.7%

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 18,510,000 shares, a growth of 31.7% from the February 13th total of 14,050,000 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 4,770,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of GSK by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,008,928 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,185,885,000 after acquiring an additional 2,224,345 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of GSK by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,576,930 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $759,425,000 after acquiring an additional 870,449 shares during the period. Clifford Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of GSK by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 409,669 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $16,747,000 after acquiring an additional 51,378 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of GSK by 61.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 433,628 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $17,728,000 after acquiring an additional 165,556 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of GSK by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 500,495 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $20,460,000 after acquiring an additional 83,433 shares during the period. 15.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GSK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of GSK in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.25.

GSK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GSK opened at $39.54 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.01. The company has a market cap of $81.94 billion, a PE ratio of 24.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. GSK has a fifty-two week low of $31.72 and a fifty-two week high of $45.93.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.15. GSK had a net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 48.59%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that GSK will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.3932 per share. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. GSK’s payout ratio is presently 98.74%.

GSK Company Profile

GSK plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, and manufacture of vaccines, and specialty and general medicines to prevent and treat disease in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Commercial Operations and Total R&D.